Blue Skies on Fire

by Zenina Masters

  “Would you like to get up?”

  She answered by sitting up and creating a robe from one of the chairs at the small table. She slipped it on and headed to the bathroom.

  She showered and put the robe on again when she exited. Andor was putting on jeans, looking as fresh as if he had just been the one scrubbing his skin.

  “How did you do that?”

  He laughed. “Fire. It does wonderful things for the hair.”

  “Fire shower?”

  “It is more like a halo that starts at my feet and burns off oil, dirt and dead skin.”

  Teebie inclined her head as he continued to dress with a black button-down shirt that he rolled up the cuffs of.

  She turned the robe into snow-white underwear and a white sundress. She had to repurpose her shoes from the night before, but when she was wearing the white, low flats, she pinned her hair up with a clip that she summoned from her bedroom below.

  “That is a nice trick. Can you teach it to me?”

  She winked. “Nope. It comes with the genes.”

  He sighed. “I will show you how to fire bathe.”

  “Still no, but keep asking.” She grinned. “Oh, maybe you can start begging. I think I would like it if you begged.”

  His eyes glowed red again. “I think I would like to give that a try.”

  He reached for her, and she panicked. She misted out from under his embrace, and she disappeared through the small crack under the door.

  Teebie kept moving until she was in the kitchen. To her surprise, Dira was in the kitchen and baking muffins.

  “Teebie! What are you doing here? I thought you would still be upstairs with Andor.”

  Teebie scowled and watched as Dira baked the first round of muffins by putting the tin on her palms. The heat coming off her skin was palpable.

  “Why would I be up there? It is time to make breakfast.”

  Dira frowned and looked at her. “Didn’t you two...”

  “No. We were going to, but I only had the one night off, so it isn’t fair to me or him.”

  “Give me a minute.” Dira concentrated, and soon, the muffins were done and set on the counter.

  Teebie blinked as her aunty turned green and scaly, growing several inches. “What are you doing?”

  “I am getting into a position where I can take you over my knee. There is a perfectly lovely phoenix up there, and he is besotted with you. He is willing to live here at the Crossroads and make tiny pale-blue babies with you, and you won’t let him? You just about cry when you talk about him because you have convinced yourself you can’t have him. I am going to smack some sense into you.”

  Andor cleared his throat from the doorway. “As entertaining as that would be, I believe that Teebie and I need to work this out for ourselves.”

  Dira nodded and receded back to her human shape. “Fine, but I reserve an ass whooping for the future.”

  Teebie nodded. “Noted.”

  Andor extended a hand to Teebie, and she took it. To her surprise, they walked out the back door and headed for the gardens.

  “Where are we—”

  “Shush. You have said plenty. I want to be in the gardens when the sun rises.” Andor kept walking, and the garden hedge opened for Teebie.

  He pulled her through the doorway and into the dark space.

  “How can you see?”

  “I live in a world where light is everywhere. Light and shadows are always with me. Darkness doesn’t mean much.” He turned to her, and his eyes glowed red again.

  “Now, Teebie, you came to the Crossroads to hide, but nothing can hide you forever.” He knelt at her feet next to the herb patch. “I offer you a chance to become more than you are, and for me to become more than I am, by joining our minds, bodies, hearts and magic together. I want you, Teebie, and you want me.”

  She stared down at the flickering red of his gaze. “You would really move here?”

  “I really would. I may have to head to the human world from time to time, but I am more than happy to have this be my home. As long as you are with me, I can and will go anywhere you are.”

  Teebie cocked her head, and he took her hands.

  “Andor, how can you be sure?”

  “I am listening to my beast; he doesn’t speak much, but he is never wrong.” A spiral of blue flame crackled around their hands and moved up her arms.

  As she stood staring at him, the sun crept up over the horizon.

  Fire erupted around him, but it didn’t touch her. Instead of burning her, it surrounded her, and she could see the imprint of the phoenix across his features while he remained human.

  “We both want you. Will you have us?”

  The weird echo in his voice resonated in her soul. She answered from her heart. “Yes.”

  The duality that looked at her smiled, and she closed her eyes as he leaned up and pressed his lips to hers. Sparks of contact were lost in the roar of fire that took over her ears.

  She kept her eyes closed as he wrapped her in his arms, and with a rush of sound, they were airborne.

  She focused on his kiss and the feel of being in his arms. It was a joy and terrifying all at the same time. Teebie had no idea that he could fly in his human form.

  When he finally set her on her feet, they were on the cliff near the waterfalls, and it was a very long way down.

  He set her on her feet and held her in his arms as the sunrise continued.

  “At dawn and sunset, the phoenix can show himself if he wishes, and he has wished it. He wanted you to see him, to feel him.”

  The flickering fire continued to rage, but as the sun fully separated from the land beneath it, the flames dimmed in the light of day.

  Teebie turned and kissed him, sure of what was going to happen next.

  She welcomed Andor’s hands working at her dress, and when she had her nerve gathered, she dissolved her clothing. Teebie stood in front of him, bathed in sunlight.

  “In all my years, I have never seen something so perfect.” Andor knelt in front of her and pressed his lips between her breasts.

  Her hands shook as she threaded them through his hair, knowing that his vision was flawed and feeling distinctly warmed by his enthusiasm.

  He stroked her back, her buttocks and her hips, caressing the back of her knees before dragging one hand upward and between her thighs.

  She was embarrassed at how ready for him she was, but when he discovered it, his low groan took the sting out of getting caught. He slid two fingers into her while he lapped at her breasts in turn. When he nibbled at the underside of one breast, she threaded her fingers in his hair and held him to her. The tickling of his lips against her was having a dramatic effect on her pulse. The light touch was giving her a strange counterpoint to the movement of his fingers inside her. The soft-strong contrast sent her senses reeling.

  She moaned and her fingers spasmed in his hair as he continued to tease her.

  Teebie covered Andor in mist, and when it dissolved, he was as naked as she was and there was a thick blanket behind him, made of their combined clothing.

  She felt the curve of his lips against her breast, and he stood, lowering his head to her neck until she gasped and leaned back in surrender.

  As she leaned back, he caught her and lowered her to the blanket. He leaned back on his knees, the jutting pillar of his erection was weeping, but he didn’t surge over her.

  To her shock, he leaned down and kissed the inside of her left knee. “Please, Teebie.”

  She gasped and shivered as he trailed his lips upward.

  “Please.”

  She frowned and was about to ask what he thought he was doing, but he pressed his lips to her opening and delved his tongue inside.

  Heat roared through her as he lapped at her sex. She could hear him murmuring against her, and when she was on the edge of release, she screamed, “Yes!”

  He was up and moving into her in seconds.
His cock replaced his mouth, and she groaned as he rocked into her with a slow beat that eventually became a demanding pulse of thrusts broken with slow circles of his hips that drove her mad.

  It was her turn to beg. “Please, Andor, harder, please.” Each whisper was dragged out of her until she heard her voice murmuring the request endlessly.

  He slammed into her, and she held her breath as her orgasm got closer and closer. When she screamed and clawed at him, he moved harder, holding her in place while he mated her. He shouted, she screamed and fire blazed around them as magic and fire blending into a wave that spread across the landscape.

  Teebie shook and twitched after the break of energy, her body clasped his, milking him with smooth spasms that drove him to short responding jerks of his hips.

  Sweat covered her.

  Andor licked her cheek. “That was...”

  Teebie had no words for it, but she managed, “Very effective begging on both our parts.”

  His chuckled warmed her, and she smiled shyly.

  Andor’s tone was husky. “I think we lit the sky on fire.”

  She nodded. “Pretty sure that is what happened. That was more than I expected.”

  He stroked her hip. “I would have to say the same.”

  Teebie looked into his eyes and sighed. “We would have blown the roof off the Open Heart.”

  He looked smug. “What shall we do now?”

  “Well, we could go home and have breakfast, or we could get dressed and see what the wave did.”

  Andor scowled. “Aw.”

  Teebie laughed. “I am sure that we will have time to couple again, but if this is what happens when our magic collides, we will have to take precautions that I can’t arrange out here.”

  He slowly moved off her, and the sudden chill between her thighs made her shiver.

  “At least let me help you up and tidy you up a little.”

  Before she could speak, he rose and hauled her upright. Her head spun, and the next thing she knew, a ring of fire was moving up her body, taking away the sweat and cum in a wave of crackling energy that soon reached her neck.

  Teebie screwed her eyes tightly shut when the flame licked over her face and fluffed her hair.

  “It is over. You can open your eyes now.” Andor chuckled.

  She opened her eyes, and he was cleaning up the same way.

  She formed the blanket into mist again and clothed him the moment he was clean. Her own clothing slipped into place with the ease of long practice.

  “Shall you fly or shall I?”

  Teebie smiled and put her arm around his waist. “I will fly. I know what I am looking for.”

  “Excellent. I am just going to enjoy the ride.”

  She didn’t comment on that, simply held on and let her little cloud of mist carry them across the land and toward the Crossroads.

  Chapter Eight

  To Teebie’s relief, everything was fine. The tingle of new magic that she could feel was further away. She pursued the energy trace until they were over the woods and a tiny, deep pool caught her attention.

  “It went here.” She set them down close to the pool, and Andor followed her in.

  “I can feel it. It feels strange. Do you know what is going on?”

  “I felt this once before, when I was little.” Teebie approached the pool that was less than three feet wide but seemed to go down forever.

  “What was it then?”

  She crept to the edge and sat down. Rocks rose around the edge to provide a lip, and she was lifted a few inches.

  Teebie took a deep breath and leaned forward to stare into the water.

  Teebie saw herself, saw images of her with her sisters at their weddings, saw herself in her house, looking out at the world through curtains, and then, she saw herself at the Open Heart, laughing with friends and tending to guests. Teebie smiled at the images. When the water rippled and another image formed, she had her supposition confirmed. It was a scrying pool. She jerked back in surprise at the image.

  “What is it?” His hands were on her shoulders, supporting her.

  “It is a scrying pool. It shows you your past and future. That is odd. Normally, it only follows one flow of time.”

  “That is impossible. Scrying pools need to anchor to ley lines.”

  Teebie looked up at him. “I know. I think we just made one.”

  His smile was slow, and it stopped when she asked, “Did you want to look?”

  He shook his head. “I know my future and am happy to wait to discover it. My past is my past. It shaped me, but it has no hold over me.”

  Teebie sighed, and he helped her to her feet. She whispered to the trees, and vines snaked out, creating a dome over the pool.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “It can be dangerous, and I would rather have Dira take a look and find out what it means. This place was made with her template. She needs to know what has happened.”

  He nodded and held onto her while she sent them flying across the sky. He murmured. “I thought you couldn’t control living matter?”

  “I can’t. I asked the forest to protect it. I can and do negotiate with the natural world.” She chuckled. It wasn’t even eight in the morning and her life had taken such a strange turn.

  A thought struck her, and she started to laugh in earnest.

  “What is it?”

  “I am going to have to book my own balance ceremony. Emira is going to be pissed.”

  “Why?”

  “She is already overworked. The spell she uses is a special mix of magics. She needs a break more than I need to balance with you.”

  He chortled. “You want to live in sin and blow the roof off the Open Heart several times per day?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Several times? Tempting, but I suppose you are right. I will ask Dira and find out what she thinks.”

  Dira grinned. “I have sent out the invitations, and your ceremony is booked for Thursday. Sorry, Andor, we had to get a few of Teebie’s friends and relatives in. If you want to invite anyone, let me know and I will forward an invitation and a transport.”

  Andor took the clipboard she handed him and jotted down some information. “My father and mother. They are the only two guests I will require.”

  Dira scowled at him. “Aren’t you happy to be wedding my niece?”

  Teebie put her hand on Dira’s arm. “He is overwhelmed, but his parents are the only two qualified to make the journey.”

  The mood swing wasn’t like Dira, and Teebie had a sudden idea as to why her aunt and Mak had returned. “You are pregnant.”

  Dira turned bright green and scowled. “What?”

  Mak came around the corner and put his arms around his mate. “She has been having control issues, so we thought it was better that she be somewhere safe until she can confirm it.”

  Teebie had the idea that Mak lurked around to make sure that Dira was fine at all times. Her aunt certainly calmed the moment that she was in her mate’s arms.

  “Would you like Spike to have a look at you?”

  Dira sniffed, “No, Lee and Jim are coming, and they will be bringing their little girl. Lee has a talent for this kind of thing, and she was an actual nurse.”

  The guests had eaten and gone about their day, so Teebie urged her aunt to the dining table. “I have something else to tell you.”

  Dira looked suspicious, and Mak looked nervous. “What?”

  “There is a scrying pool that just opened up in the forest. I have had the trees and vines shield it, but it can see the past and future.”

  Dira scowled. “That can’t be. The scrying pools have to be linked to ley lines to see anything.”

  Teebie looked to Andor, and he took her hand. “I know, but I also know what I saw. I saw my life, and I saw my future.”

  Dira cocked her head. “Where are you in the future?”

  “I am at the Crossroads, but I am in cha
rge of a farm that stretches in to the distance. I see flowers blooming, bees buzzing and hives waiting for them. Oh, and three children with pale-blue skin and pointed ears, playing with a little girl with chalk-white skin and golden hair.”

  Mak beamed, and Dira turned green again. Teebie knew that look, and she manifested a basin before her aunt lost her breakfast.

  Teebie whisked away the used basin and provide a clean one before she went to the kitchen and got a compress for her aunt.

  A few minutes later, Dira looked normal and was eating flatbread and sipping weak tea.

  “I asked the beavers to make us a small cottage on the edge of the new settlement, but I think it would be better for me if I was a bit closer. Could you start on a small house for us, Teebie?”

  Teebie nodded. “I can, but someone will have to mark out the plot and clear the land. You know I can’t do anything with the trees.”

  Dira nodded. “The beavers will clear it by tomorrow afternoon. I suppose we will have to create a town for those with children.”

  Teebie grinned. “You will need to. I think Ivy is going to be heading into motherhood soon. She hasn’t said anything, but there is a glow.”

  Dira groaned. “So, we will need a portal to get to and from the Crossroads proper.”

  Andor said, “Perhaps if there was a map?”

  Teebie generated a map, and Mak looked over the lay of the land, pointing at the site that Dira had selected for her cottage. “We will set up home there, and I can easily run into town when I need to pop in at home for a minute.”

  Teebie pointed to a spot and a small dot appeared. “That is the scrying pool.”

  The businesses of the Crossroads, the other bed and breakfast buildings as well as the hostels all appeared on the map, one by one.

  Teebie called the beaver alpha and made sure that he was going to be felling trees in the right spot. When they were both on the same page, she asked him to tell her when the trees were down, and he agreed.

  To date, the beavers were the only family groups at the Crossroads. Teebie looked at her aunt. Apparently, that was about to change.

  Andor wrapped his arms around Teebie and kissed her temple. “I believe you said you could do something to my room so we wouldn’t blow the roof off? I think we should test that.”